Carleton University Chancellor Yaprak Baltacioğlu Wins Prestigious Vanier Medal
Carleton University Chancellor Yaprak Baltacioğlu has won the 2021 Vanier Medal awarded by the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC).
The Vanier Medal is IPAC’s highest form of recognition to a person who has shown distinctive leadership and made significant contributions in public administration and to the public service in Canada. The medal was created in 1962 in honour of former governor general Georges-Philias Vanier.
“I am honoured and very grateful to receive the 2021 IPAC Vanier Medal,” said Baltacioğlu. “Serving my adopted country of Canada was the greatest honour of my life and it brings me great pleasure to be recognized for this service.”
In congratulating Baltacioğlu, IPAC President Kelly Gillis thanked her for her exemplary public service career spanning nearly three decades.
“Throughout her career she inspired public servants to reach new heights—she is a model of public service excellence and a profoundly deserving recipient for IPAC’s highest honour.”
In his nomination of Baltacioğlu, Carleton President Benoit-Antoine Bacon noted that “a review of Ms. Baltacioğlu’s achievements reveals her tireless desire to give back to Canada and to make the country better for all Canadians. Her dedication and determination to serve her country of adoption is without compare.”
Born in Turkey, Baltacioğlu came to Canada at the age of 21 after earning a law degree at Istanbul University. She became interested in Canadian democracy and applied and completed a Master’s in Public Policy.
She was recommended for a term position at the Public Service Commission by one of her professors. She embarked on a career that included work in six departments on policy topics ranging from agriculture and food to transport and infrastructure, environment and climate change, and social policy.
Baltacioğlu was appointed Carleton’s 12th Chancellor in 2018 after serving as Canada’s Secretary of the Treasury Board from 2012 to 2018, where she provided advice and recommendations to the Treasury Board committee of ministers on how the federal government spends money, regulates and manages programs and services.
During the course of her distinguished career, she served as a close adviser to four prime ministers.
Renewed for a second term as Carleton’s Chancellor on Dec. 1, 2020, Baltacioğlu begins her new three year-term this November. The Chancellor presides over Convocation ceremonies, conferring degrees, diplomas and certificates on graduating students, and serves as an ambassador for the university.
Baltacioğlu views size as the greatest challenge the public sector currently faces. “Governments are large organizations and they are slow to adapt, pivot and innovate. As I look to the future, I believe keeping in pace with the world and society is a significant challenge.”
IPAC supports excellence in the country’s public sector with 19 regional groups across Canada. Members include public servants, academics and others interested in public administration. A five-member, independent panel of judges, appointed by the IPAC Board, reviews all nominations and makes the final determination on the Vanier Medal recipient.
Baltacioğlu will receive the Vanier Medal in an online ceremony in late August during IPAC’s Annual Conference.